System and method for conducting a multi-channel order

ABSTRACT

A method for purchasing a product at a brick-and-mortar retail establishment is provided. The method includes, but is not limited to, inputting identification information into a local device for a product sold by the brick-and-mortar retail establishment, transmitting the identification information to an order creation application, and upon receiving the identification information, selecting a dispense type for the product. The dispense type is selected from a group of dispense types including: “carry” for personally carrying the product out of the brick-and-mortar retail establishment, “load” for having the product loaded into the user&#39;s vehicle, “pickup” for having the product provided to the user at a predetermined location whereby the user will go to get that product, and “delivery” for delivering the product to the user at a predetermined location.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to purchasing products from aretail establishment. In particular, the invention relates a method forplacing an order that may include multiple types of products from aretail establishment, such as in-stock products that can be fulfilledfrom remote locations using a mobile device, specifying methods offulfillment and payment for each product, all within a single order.

BACKGROUND

Many retail establishments currently allow a customer to check-out andpay for products either by using a traditional cashier who scans eachproduct and then receives tender from the customer for payment of theproducts, or by using a self-checkout station (SCO) in which thecustomer scan each product individually at that self-checkout stationand then tenders payment to the self-checkout station. In someinstances, a customer is al lowed to scan products picked from a shelfwith a local or mobile device, transferring contents of the virtualshopping cart to the point of sale register, and tender payment at thepoint of sale register. In either way, the customer has to shop forproducts by placing each product in a shopping cart, then has to takethe shopping cart to either a traditional cashier or a self-checkoutstation, often the customer has to wait in line, and then the customerhas to remove each product from the shopping cart so that thetraditional cashier or a self-checkout station can scan identificationinformation from the product, such as a barcode, and then typically eachproduct is then placed back in the shopping cart or into a shopping bagupon scanning.

As a result of this process, retail establishments have to invest incashiers or self-checkout stations and additional time is required fromthe customer to complete his purchase by having to go to a cashier or aself-checkout station. It would be desirable to provide a customer and aretail establishment with a method for purchasing products from theretail establishment which provided the customer with a variety ofpayment methods and a variety of delivery or fulfillment options.

Furthermore, many consumers visit a brick-and-mortar retailestablishment only to get their hands on products they may be interestedin purchasing, then compare prices of those products to the prices ofonline retail establishments, and purchase the products from acompetitor's online retail establishment conveniently using a portablecomputing device, such a smart phone or a tablet instead of goingthrough a traditional point of sale terminal at the brick-and-mortarretail establishment they are visiting. As a result of this practice,which is called showrooming, brick-and-mortar retail establishments endup losing revenue due to lost sales to online retail establishments.

Additionally, many products may not be available at a brick-and-mortarretail establishment, as the size of the brick-and-mortar retailestablishment is limited. Additionally, some products are too expensive,heavy, or large to be stocked on a shopping floor of a brick-and-mortarretail establishment. Online retailers have many advantages overbrick-and-mortar retail establishment in that they may stock largermerchandize assortments. Furthermore, online retailers offer a varietyof delivery and payment options, however most of them do not acceptpayments in cash. It would be desirable to provide a customer at abrick-and-mortar retail establishment with a method for purchasingproducts which match or exceed the convenience and selection of anonline retail establishment.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, a method for purchasing a product at a brick-and-mortarretail establishment is provided. The method includes, but is notlimited to, inputting identification information into a local device fora product sold by the brick-and-mortar retail establishment,transmitting the identification information to an order creationapplication, and upon receiving the identification information,selecting a dispense type for the product. The dispense type is selectedfrom a group of dispense types including: “carry” for personallycarrying the product out of the brick-and-mortar retail establishment,“load” for having the product loaded into the user's vehicle, “pickup”for having the product provided to the user at a predetermined locationwhereby the user will go to get that product, and “delivery” fordelivering the product to the user at a predetermined location.

In one aspect, a method for purchasing a product is provided. The methodincludes, but is not limited to, placing a product in a virtual shoppingcart of an order creation application and selecting a dispense type forthe product. The dispense type is selected from a group of dispensetypes including: “carry” for personally carrying the product out of thebrick-and-mortar retail establishment, “load” for having the productloaded into the user's vehicle, “pickup” for having the product providedto the user at a predetermined location whereby the user will go to getthat product, and “delivery” for delivering the product to the user at apredetermined location.

In one aspect, a system for purchasing one or more local inaccessibleproducts is provided. The system includes, but is not limited to, alocal device for retrieving identification information for a product, aremote server connected with the local device, wherein the remote serverreceives the identification information, an order management systemconnected with the remote server, wherein the order management systemprocesses an order for the local inaccessible product, and an orderfulfillment system connected with the order management system to fulfillthe order in accordance with the selected dispense type. The remotedevice is in communication with a product database which containsproduct information for the product. The remote server uses theidentification information to retrieve the product information. Productinformation related to the product is communicated to an order creationapplication which places the product in a virtual shopping cart alongwith some of the product information. A dispense type is selected forthe product from a group of dispense types including: “carry” forpersonally carrying the product out of the brick-and-mortar retailestablishment, “load” for having the product loaded into the user'svehicle, “pickup” for having the product provided to the user at apredetermined location whereby the user will go to get that product, and“delivery” for delivering the product to the user at a predeterminedlocation.

The scope of the present invention is defined solely by the appendedclaims and is not affected by the statements within this summary.

In one aspect, a method for purchasing an item using a mobile device isprovided. The method includes, but is not limited to, . . .

In one aspect, a computer readable memory medium comprising program . ..

In one aspect, a method for purchasing an item . . .

The scope of the present invention is defined solely by the appendedclaims and is not affected by the statements within this summary.

In one aspect, a method for purchasing a product at a retailestablishment is provided. The method includes, but is not limited to,creating a virtual shopping cart with an order creation application,selecting an order fulfillment method for each product in the virtualshopping cart from a group of order fulfillment methods, and selecting apayment method for each product in the virtual shopping cart from agroup of payment methods. The group of order fulfillment methodsincludes: delivering a product within the order to a user specifiedlocation, making a product within the order available for later pick up,personally carrying a product within the order out of a retailestablishment, arranging for recurring delivery of a product within theorder to a user specified location, or retrieving a local inaccessibleproduct within the order from storage and delivering the localinaccessible product to a loading location. The virtual shopping cartincludes product information related to two or more different productssold by the retail establishment. Each product is a different producttype selected from a group of product types including: a localaccessible product, a local inaccessible product, an online product, anda remote product.

In one aspect, a method for purchasing a product is provided. The methodincludes, but is not limited to, providing identification informationfor two or more different products sold by a retail establishment,creating a virtual shopping cart with an order creation application,selecting a dispense method for each product in the virtual shoppingcart from a group of dispense methods, and selecting an orderfulfillment method for each product in the virtual shopping cart from agroup of order fulfillment methods. Each product is a different producttype selected from a group of product types including: a localaccessible product, a local inaccessible product, an online product, anda remote product. The virtual shopping cart includes product informationrelated to the two or more different products sold by the retailestablishment. The group of dispense methods includes: “delivery,”“pick-up,” “carry,” and “load”. The group of order fulfillment methodsincludes: delivering a product within the order to a user specifiedlocation, making a product within the order available for later pick up,personally carrying a product within the order out of a retailestablishment, arranging for recurring delivery of a product within theorder to a user specified location, or retrieving a local inaccessibleproduct within the order from storage and delivering the localinaccessible product to a loading location.

In one aspect, a system for purchasing a product is provided. The systemincludes, but is not limited to, a local device for retrievingidentification information for two or more different products sold by aretail establishment, a remote server connected with the local device,an order management system connected with the remote server, and anorder fulfillment system connected with the order management system tofulfill the order. The order management system processes an order forthe product. Each product is a different product type selected from agroup of product types including: a local accessible product, a localinaccessible product, an online product, and a remote product. Uponreceiving the identification information at the local device, the localdevice automatically forwards the identification information to an ordercreation application. The order creation application adds the productsto a virtual shopping cart. At least one order fulfillment method forthe products in the virtual shopping cart is selected from a group oforder fulfillment methods including: delivering a product within theorder to a user specified location, making a product within the orderavailable for later pick up, personally carrying a product within theorder out of a retail establishment, arranging for recurring delivery ofa product within the order to a user specified location, or retrieving alocal inaccessible product within the order from storage and deliveringthe local inaccessible product to a loading location.

The scope of the present invention is defined solely by the appendedclaims and is not affected by the statements within this summary.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention can be better understood with reference to the followingdrawings and description. The components in the figures are notnecessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustratingthe principles of the invention.

FIG. 1A depicts a block schematic diagram of an exemplary computingsystem, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1B depicts an illustration of a local or mobile device receivingidentification information from a product and communicating with aremote server, in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 depicts a system level flowchart of interactions between acustomer, a local or mobile device, and a remote server, in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 3A and 3B through 8 depict flowchart illustrations of methods,apparatus (systems) and computer program products, in accordance withone embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention makes use of the discovery that by using a localor mobile device with identification information input capabilities andcommunications capabilities, a user can input identification informationinto the local device which identifies a variety of products forpurchase, some of which are not on a floor of a brick-and-mortar retailestablishment, generate an order for the product identified by theidentification information, pay for the order using one of a variety ofdifferent payment methods, pay for the entire order using a singletransaction regardless of whether the order includes local accessibleproducts or not, and fulfill the order in one of a variety of differentmanners. In this way, a user or customer at a brick-and-mortar retailestablishment is provided with a method for purchasing products whichmatches or exceeds the convenience and selection of an online retailestablishment.

In the description that follows, the subject matter of the applicationwill be described with reference to acts and symbolic representations ofoperations that are performed by one or more computers, unless indicatedotherwise. As such, it will be understood that such acts and operations,which are at times referred to as being computer-executed, include themanipulation by the processing unit of the computer of electricalsignals representing data in a structured form. This manipulationtransforms the data or maintains it at locations in the memory system ofthe computer which reconfigures or otherwise alters the operation of thecomputer in a manner well understood by those skilled in the art. Thedata structures where data is maintained are physical locations of thememory that have particular properties defined by the format of thedata. However, although the subject matter of the application is beingdescribed in the foregoing context, it is not meant to be limiting asthose skilled in the art will appreciate that some of the acts andoperations described hereinafter can also be implemented in hardware,software, and/or firmware and/or some combination thereof.

With reference to FIG. 1A, depicted is an exemplary computing system forimplementing embodiments. FIG. 1 includes a computer 100, which could beany one of a local or mobile device 200 or remote server 240. Computer100 may be a local or mobile device, wherein at least some or all of itscomponents are formed together in a single device which can be carriedaround by a person or a local device which is accessible by a user, suchas an automobile touchscreen computer or a local kiosk, and which may ormay not be carried around by a person. A local device may comprise amobile device. The computer 100 includes a processor 110, memory 120 andone or more drives 130. The drives 130 and their associated computerreadable memory medium provide storage of computer readableinstructions, data structures, program modules and other data for thecomputer 100. Drives 130 can include an operating system 140,application programs 150 such as order creation application 400, programmodules 160, and program data 180. Computer 100 further includes inputdevices 190 through which data may enter the computer 100, eitherautomatically or by a user who enters commands and data. Input devices190 can include an electronic digitizer, an image scanner, a barcodereader, a microphone, a camera, a video camera, a keyboard and apointing device, commonly referred to as a mouse, a trackball or a touchpad, a pinpad, any USB device, any Bluetooth enabled device, an RFID orNFC device, and a debit card reader. Other input devices may include ajoystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, and the like. In one ormore embodiments, input devices 190 are portable devices that can directdisplay or instantiation of applications running on processor 110.

These and other input devices 190 can be connected to processor 110through a user input interface that is coupled to a system bus 192, butmay be connected by other interface and bus structures, such as aparallel port, game port or a universal serial bus (USB). Computers suchas computer 100 may also include other peripheral output devices such asspeakers, printers, and/or display devices, which may be connectedthrough an output peripheral interface 194 and the like.

Computer 100 also includes a radio 198 or other type of communicationsdevice for wirelessly transmitting and receiving data for the computer100 with the aid of an antenna. Radio 198 may wirelessly transmit andreceive data using WiMAX™, 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth™, 2G, 2.5G, 3G, and4G, wireless standards.

Computer 100 may operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections to one or more remote computers, such as a remote server240. The remote server 240 may be a personal computer, a server, arouter, a network PC, a peer device or other common network node, andmay include many if not all of the elements described above relative tocomputer 100. Networking environments are commonplace in offices,enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets and the Internet. Forexample, in the subject matter of the present application, computer 100may comprise the source machine from which data is being migrated, andthe remote computer may comprise the destination machine. Note, however,that source and destination machines need not be connected by a networkor any other means, but instead, data may be migrated via any mediacapable of being written by the source platform and read by thedestination platform or platforms. When used in a LAN or WLAN networkingenvironment, computer 100 is connected to the LAN through a networkinterface 196 or an adapter. When used in a WAN networking environment,computer 100 typically includes a modem or other means for establishingcommunications over the WAN, such as radio 198, to environments such asthe Internet. It will be appreciated that other means of establishing acommunications link between computer 100 and other computers may beused.

With reference to FIG. 1B, illustrated is an exemplary representation ofa local or mobile device 200 for purchasing a product 220 from aretailer at a retail establishment. As used herein, the term “product”or “product 220” refers to any item or service sold by a retailestablishment. “Item” include tangible objects or computer softwarewhich may be fixed in a tangible medium that may be purchased from aretail establishment. “Service” includes non-tangible objects or usefullabor that does not produce a tangible commodity that may be purchasedfrom a retail establishment.

Local or mobile device 200 includes any local or portable electronicdevice having a processor 201 for executing applications and a display206 for displaying information connected with the processor 201, andincludes such devices as a personal desktop assistant (PDA), a portablecomputer, a mobile telephone, a smartphone, a netbook, a mobilevehicular computer, a tablet computer, a kiosk, a handheld scanner, or apoint of sale terminal. Display 206 can use any of a variety of types ofdisplay technologies, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), acathode-ray tube type display, an electronic ink display, a lightemitting diode (LED) type display such as an OLED display, and a plasmadisplay. Preferably, the local device 200 also includes a communicationsdevice 208 and a scanning module 202. The communications device 208 isconnected with the processor 201 and capable of sending and receivinginformation between one or more other computers connected with the localdevice 200. Preferably, communications device 208 is capable ofwirelessly transmitting signals to another computer, such as remoteserver 240, using a radio transmitter and a radio receiver connectedwith an antenna. The scanning module 202 is capable of receivingidentification information 222 from a product 220 and converting theidentification information 222 into a format that the processor 201 canread, such as digital data. Preferably, scanning module 202 includes anydevice which can capture, receive and process information, near-fieldcommunication (NFC) sensor, such as a Quick Response (QR) code, abarcode or any image, and includes devices such as a digital scanner, adigital camera, a video camera, a barcode reader, and any other type ofdigital or analog imaging device.

Preferably, communications device 208 communicates with another computer100, such as remote server 240, via a network 226 using a networkinterface 209. Network interface 209 is connected with processor 201 andcommunications device 208, and preferably disposed within remote device200.

Network 226 may include any type of network that is capable of sendingand receiving communication signals, including signals for multimediacontent, images, data and streaming video. Network 226 may include adata network, such as the Internet, an intranet, a local area network(LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a cable network, and other likesystems that are capable of transmitting information, such as digitaldata, and the like. Network 226 may also include a telecommunicationsnetwork, such as a local telephone network, long distance telephonenetwork, cellular telephone network, satellite communications network,cable television network and other like communications systems thatinteract with computer systems to enable transmission of informationbetween local device 200 and another computer such as remote server 240.Network 226 may include more than one network and may include aplurality of different types of networks. Thus, network 226 may includea plurality of data networks, a plurality of telecommunicationsnetworks, cable systems, satellite systems and/or a combination of dataand telecommunications networks and other like communication systems.

Network 226 is connected with both local device 200 and remote server240 and allows for information to be transmitted and shared betweenlocal device 200 and remote server 240. Remote server 240 includes anytype of computer which can receive, store, process, and transmitinformation to another computer and includes devices such as a serverbased computer system capable of interacting with one or more othercomputer systems.

In one embodiment, local device 200 includes location informationprocessing means which allows the local device 200 to determine itslocation. Location information processing means includes devices such aGlobal Positioning System (GPS) based device, and others methods such asusing radio triangulation via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth™ to determine thelocation of the local device 200. Preferably, local device 200 includesinput means 210 for entering information from a user into the localdevice 200. Input means includes any device which can assist a user toenter information, such as a keyboard, a mouse, a touchpad, atouchscreen, a joystick, a button, and a dial.

Product 220 includes any item or sendee which is being sold by a retailestablishment. Product 220 includes any “item” such as any tangibleobject or physical merchandise being sold by a retail establishment,which may be located in the brick-and-mortar retail establishment, inanother brick-and-mortar retail establishment, or online at a remotewarehouse. Product 220 may also include any “service” provided or soldby a retail establishment, either locally which may be located in thebrick-and-mortar retail establishment, or remote from thebrick-and-mortar retail establishment. “Item” include tangible objectsor computer software which may be fixed in a tangible medium that may bepurchased from a retail establishment. “Service” includes non-tangibleobjects or useful labor that does not produce a tangible commodity thatmay be purchased from a retail establishment.

Items, for example, include such things as groceries, software,electronic devices, tools, hardware, clothing, housewares, jewelry, andfurniture. Sendees, for example, include such things as an extendedwarranty service, gift wrapping, discounts, coupons, layaway services,installation of an item, payment of a bill, and creating a money order.Products 220 that can be added to the order include, for example:extended services—warranty, gift wrapping; coupons, by scanning or usingelectronic coupons that are available on-line or linked to a user'saccount; personal discounts, like associate discount that can be readfrom the discount card or linked to the customer's account; layawayitems for which a layaway order is created; payment towards a layawayorder; installation of the item or product; weighted items such asgroceries; a utility bill payment; a money order; items from amarketplace.

A retail establishment may be either an online retail establishmentwhich conduct business through the internet or a brick-and-mortar retailestablishment which conduct business through a physical store orwarehouse. A retail establishment includes a supermarket, a generalretail store, a wholesale store, a charity organization, a restaurant,or any other place which sells goods or sendees. The term “retailestablishment” also includes a retail establishment's agents, such asany third party associated with the retail establishment or working inconjunction with the retail establishment. For example, a third partycould be a delivery company working in conjunction with the retailestablishment or a company that provides a sendee to the user orconsumer through the retail establishment. For example, the retailestablishment could sell a third party's carwash service or oil changeservice through the order creation application 400.

Preferably, the product 220 is located within a brick-and-mortar retailestablishment or accessible by the brick-and-mortar retailestablishment. Product 220 preferably includes identificationinformation 222 which is any information on or about the product 220which assists in identifying the product 220. Identification information222 is preferably entered into order creation application 400 using oneof a variety of methods, such as, scanning, manual entry, or selectionfrom an on-line or locally based catalogue. Scanning the identificationinformation 222 uses either ran input device 190 or scanning module 202to enter identification information 222 from a locally accessibleproduct 220. Manual entry of the identification information 222 wouldinclude entering the identification information 222 manually by theuser. Selection from an on-line or locally based catalogue would requirethe user to manually select the product 220, and its correspondingidentification information 222, from a catalogue presented to the uservia order creation application 400.

Preferably, the identification information 222 includes a productidentification code that is preferably encoded within a productidentification device 223. The product identification device 223 may bea sticker, label, an NFC sensor, an RFID device, or any wireless devicewhich transmits and/or receives a signal, which is placed on or near theproduct 220. The product identification code includes any information,such as a code or pattern, which may be displayed, broadcast, ordigitally encoded, such as a digitally encoded optical pattern like a QRCode 225 or UPC code/barcode 224, a UPC number or product code 227 orother retail product identification, illustrations or images 229 of oron the product 220, a wireless code which can be transmitted wirelesslysuch as an RFID or NFC code 233, or any digitally encoded information231 which can contain identification information 222 used to identifythe product 220. In one embodiment, the identification information 222includes a website address, such as a website address containinginformation about the product. Preferably, identification information222 is an automatically or manually entered product identification whichmay include a product identification code, an optically recognizableimage, or a radio frequency readable code, and may be retrieved fromidentification device 223 by optically scanning or using radiofrequencies. In one embodiment, the identification information 222 is animage of the product. The image of the product 220 is captured with acamera, preferably a camera of a local device, or by importing ordownloading an image from another source, such as an image from a website. Preferably, the image is processed through an image recognitionsoftware that identifies the product 220 and provide a productidentification code, such as an alphanumeric code, which represent theproduct 220.

The product identification code is then sent to the order creationapplication 400 which uses the product identification code to recognizea product. The order creation application 400 is an application whichassist in the shopping process. The order creation application 400assist in entering and receiving a product identification code for aproduct 220 and then creating a virtual shopping cart for placingidentifying information about the product 220 in, and then helps tocreate an order for all products 220 in the virtual shopping cart. Theorder creation application 400 is run on a computer 100, such as remoteserver 240 or on the local de vice 200.

Preferably, the identification information 222 includes informationwhich identifies the product 220, such as a serial number, a name of theproduct 220, and any text, characters, or images used to identify theproduct 220, a product code or number, and any information 280 whichlinks to a website which identifies the product 220, such as a websiteaddress. While identification information 222 may be on or near theproduct 220, identification information 222 may be on or near a varietyof different mediums, such as a publically accessible medium asdescribed herein.

With reference to FIG. 2, in operation, the local device 200 or a userusing the local device 200 retrieves identification information 222 ontothe local device 200. Preferably, the local device 200 is brought nearto identification device 223, and identification information 222 isretrieved from the identification device 223 by the local device 200.For example, in one embodiment, the local device 200 may be brought neara QR code 225, and an image of the QR code 225 is captured by the localdevice 200. In another embodiment, the local device 200 may be broughtnear an NFC sensor and identification information 222 is retrieved fromthe NFC sensor onto the local device 200.

Identification information 222, and identification device 223, may besituated in one of a variety of spots, such as on or near a product 220located within a brick-and-mortar retail establishment or store.Additionally, identification information 222, and identification device223, may be situated on a publically accessible medium such as in anadvertisement, like an advertisement on a billboard or magazine, orsituated on a publically accessible medium such as a product display,like a display within a shopping mall or a brick-and-mortar retailestablishment. A publically accessible medium is any medium on whichinformation regarding a product may be provided to a user, and which isaccessible by the public. A publically accessible medium may include anadvertisement or product information which is on a billboard, in amagazine or newspaper, on the internet or an ordering website such as anonline catalog, on television, in a movie, on a poster, on a productdisplay, on a stand or shelf label near a product, an image file, or ona product. The publically accessible medium is preferably in a locationwhich is accessible by the public, such as a street, a mall, astorefront, or a store.

In one embodiment, the identification information 222 is captured by thelocal device 200, preferably at the direction of the user, and thencommunicated along with a unique identifier 282 to an order creationapplication 400. Upon entering identification information 222, ordercreation application 400 may request scanning of the product's serialnumber and may request validation of sale restrictions (i.e. age,permits, recall). A user may lookup products that are not available atthe store by inputting or scanning identification information 222 fromsome medium or visiting an online catalog using the local or mobiledevice 200. The online catalog may be displayed in reference to thescanned information 222 and contain products that are not stocked orlocated at the brick-and-mortar retail establishment for betterassortment choices.

In one embodiment, the identification information 222 includes and thenprovides the local device 200 with information 280, which preferablylinks to a website or website address. Information 280 provides a linkto more information about product 220, such as a link to a website whichcontains reviews, product information, purchasing information, pricinginformation, and availability information for product 220. Information280 preferably causes the local device 200 to access or launch a websitefrom the remote server 240. The website contains more information aboutthe product 220, and preferably the website is in communication with anorder creation application 400 which is used to purchase the product 220from a current retail establishment which is linked to the website orthe order creation application 400. Preferably, the order creationapplication 400 runs on the website or on the local device 200. In oneembodiment, the information 280 causes the order creation application400 to open and automatically place the product 220 in a virtualshopping cart of the order creation application 400 for purchase by theuser from the current retail establishment. In one embodiment,identification information 222 is derived from a QR Quick Response (QR)code, a barcode, or an product's model number or serial number.

Preferably, the order creation application 400 includes a scan buttonfor scanning additional identification information 222, a view cartbutton for viewing the contents of the virtual shopping cart, and a homebutton for going back to the home screen. When selected, the scan buttonactivates a scanning module and presents the user with a scan screenwhich allows the user to capture and input identification information222 from a product 220, either manually or automatically using the localdevice 200. When selected, the view cart button presents the user with ashopping cart screen which allows the user to view the contents of thevirtual shopping cart created by the user and which contains informationregarding the product 220. When selected, the home button returns theuser to the home screen.

The virtual shopping cart is associated with an order. As used herein,an order is any request to purchase a product 220. The order iscomprised of information received from the order creation application400, such as identification information 222, quantity informationindicating how many units of a particular product 220 in the virtualshopping cart a user would like to purchase, user identificationinformation, additional user information, an order number, and storeidentifying information which provides information that identifies thespecific retail establishment in which the user is in.

9 Preferably, the local device 200 transmits a user identifyinginformation, such as a unique identifier 282, along with identificationinformation 222, to the order creation application 400. The uniqueidentifier 282 includes any information which can uniquely identify theuser, such as a mobile phone number, a mobile IMEI number, a user'saccount name, a user's government ID, or other such information. At thispoint, the order creation application 400 then preferably sends thelocal device 200 through the remote server 240 a request for user logincredentials 284. The user login credentials 284 is some additionalinformation from the user which helps to uniquely identify the user,such as a password. Sometimes the user login credentials 284 are savedby the application 400 and no request for user login credentials 284 ismade.

Upon receiving the user login credentials 284, the order creationapplication 400 then prompts the remote server 240 to access the user'spersonal information, which may be stored remotely at a customerdatabase 286, and the user's registered payment method information whichmay be stored remotely at a customer payment methods server 288. Theuser's personal information may include the user's identity, name,address, delivery options, contact information, and personalpreferences. The user's payment method information may includeinformation regarding any one of the user's registered payment methodsassociated with the user's account, such as a PayPal™ account or otheronline payment account information, credit, debit, money, governmentbenefit, or gift card information, bank account information, and anyother information related to a financial payment method which can beused to provide authorization of funds to purchase the product 220.Additionally, the user may provide payment method information for a newpayment method before payment for the order is authorized. The user mayprovide a payment method either by keying in a new payment method orscanning new payment information from a medium, such as a credit card.The payment method include any of a variety of different paymentmethods, such as credit card payment, debit card payment, money orderpayment, check payment, cash payment, government benefit payment (i.e.food stamps), gift card payment, travelers check payment, or onlineaccount payment such as a PayPal™ account or other online account. Thepayment method may be made using any one of a variety of paymentchannels including: electronic or mobile payment using a local device200, payment via a kiosk, and payment via a point of sale terminal.

Remote server 240 may also be connected with a product database whichcontains product information such as product descriptions, productillustrations and images, and product pricing and sales information. Theremote server 240 communicates the product information from the productdatabase to the order creation application 400. Preferably, the remoteserver 240 received identification information 222 from the local device200 and uses the identification information 222 to retrieve productinformation related to the product 220 for whom the identificationinformation 222 was input for, and then communicates the productinformation to the order creation application 400. Preferably, the ordercreation application 400 then places the product 220 in a virtualshopping cart along with some of the product information.

In one embodiment, the customer database 286 provides a customeridentification token that can be used to obtain additional secureinformation about the customer from various information systems thatrecognize the customer identification token as a valid method forcustomer identification. In one embodiment, the customer identificationtoken is used to obtain preregistered methods of payment from a remoteservice, such as a customer payment methods server, upon receiving thecustomer identification token from a customer database 286.

Upon automatically placing the product 220 in a virtual shopping cart ofthe order creation application 400 for purchase by the user, the usermay update a quantity of the product 220 within the order by makingadditional scans of the same product 220 or specifying an exact numberof products 220 by entering information using a local device key entrysystem, such as a keyboard or touchscreen. In one embodiment, additionalproducts 220 may be placed in the virtual shopping cart of the ordercreation application 400 by scanning additional identificationinformation of each additional product 220 thereby automatically addingeach additional product 220 to the order. Furthermore, in oneembodiment, products 220 may be deleted from the order by scanningidentification information 222 of each product 220 which the user wishesto delete from the order, thereby automatically deleting the product 220from the order.

In one embodiment, identification information 222 may be scanned orinput for a product 220 which is out of stock. In one embodiment, theorder creation application may indicate that the product 220 is out ofstock, on back order, or in a different location, such as in a differentbrick-and-mortar retail establishment or online. In this instance, theuser has the option of creating a back order for the product 220 if theproduct 220 is out of stock. The user also has the option of purchasingthe product 220 from a different location.

Products 220 which are added to or deleted from the order may be addedor deleted in one of a number of ways, such as by scanningidentification information 222 with the local device 200, enteringidentification information 222 manually using a device key entry system,such as a keyboard, touchscreen, or other input peripheral, or byselecting a product shown within a menu or screen of the order creationapplication 400.

Products 220 which are added to or deleted from the order may be one ofthe following product types: local accessible products located in thebrick-and-mortar retail establishment in which the user is located andwhich may be physically accessed by the user and placed into a shoppingcart; local inaccessible products 221 which are located in thebrick-and-mortar retail establishment but are either too large or tooheavy to be located on the showroom floor, too expensive to beaccessible by the user, or not provided on the showroom floor; remoteproducts which are located in another brick-and-mortar retailestablishment which is remote from the user; and online products whichare not located in the brick-and-mortar retail establishment in whichthe user is located. Inaccessible products typically require theassistance of store personnel to retrieve the product 220 and deliver anitem or provide a sendee to the user as they are often in a securelocation, or in a location within the brick-and-mortar retailestablishment which is inaccessible to the user. Remote products arelocated in another brick-and-mortar retail establish, and not thebrick-and-mortar retail establishment in which the user is located.Online products are located remote from the brick-and-mortar retailestablishment, such as on a remote server or in a remote warehouse whichis not a brick-and-mortar retail establishment. Some products 220, suchas some services (i.e. warranties and installations) usually do notrequire “retrieval”, but rather activation, registration or initiationwith the sendee providers. This may be done once payment is processed.

The user has the option of adding local accessible products, localinaccessible products 221, remote products, and online products to theorder via the order creation application 400 in any one of a number ofways, such as by scanning identification information 222 with the localdevice 200, entering identification information 222 manually into thelocal device 200, or by selecting a product shown within a menu orscreen of the order creation application 400. As a result, the user hasgreat flexibility in how to add products 220 to an order and whichproducts 220 may be added to an order. For example, the user may scanidentification information 222 from a display for a remote product oronline product which is not in the brick-and-mortar retail establishmentin which the user is located, and that product 220 may be added to theorder within the order creation application 400.

Upon adding any one of a variety of products 220 to the order creationapplication 400, preferably, the amount of the order is calculated anddetermined based on, but not limited to product prices, taxes, salepromotions, discounts, rebates, coupons, fees (delivery, installation,warranty), local charges, deposit fees. Upon calculating the amount ofthe order, the user is then prompted to select a payment method. Thepayment method is either a registered payment methods associated withthe user's account or a new payment method which may be entered in realtime by the user before payment for the order is authorized. The paymentmethod may also include payment at a traditional point of sale terminal,or an electronic payment which bypassed the traditional point of saleterminal and is made through the order creation application 400.Additionally, a different payment method may be selected by the user foreach product 220 within the order using the order creation application400. As a result, some products 220 may be paid for by using a point ofsale terminal and other products 220 may be paid electronically throughthe order creation application 400 by using a preregistered or newlyentered payment method, such as PayPal™. In one embodiment, total orderpayment may be split between different payment methods that is notlinked to specific products 220, but rather on a percentage of a totalor based on fixed amounts, as long as products 220 are paid inaccordance to the rules (i.e. non-grocery products should not be paidwith a food stamps card).

Upon selecting a payment method, an order sale recording application orsystem documents a sale of the order, such as the transfer of ownershipand removal of a product from the retail establishment's inventory. Foreach order, single payment amount is calculated, one which may befulfilled using one or more of a variety of fulfillment methods, and onewhich may be paid using one or more of a variety of payment methods.

In one embodiment, payment is completed for the order via a paymentprocessing application that is connected to a financial institution,wherein the order creation application 400 provides payment informationto the payment processing application which in turn sends paymentinformation to the financial institution and receives authorizationinformation from the financial institution.

In one embodiment, payment may be authorized for only products 220 whichare carried out of the brick-and-mortar retail establishment by the userand for products that do not require fulfillment, such as warranties,fees, or other charges. For the products 220 that will be fulfilled at alater date, pre-authorization may be made so that a payment will beauthorized at a later date once the order is fulfilled.

In one embodiment, the order is transferred along with a selectedpayment method or methods and order fulfillment method preferences to apayment processing application, preferably connected with a point ofsale terminal. The payment processing application does not have toreside at the retail brick-and-mortar retail establishment, it may be acentralized capability. Preferably, the payment processing is notresponsible for calculation of a total. Preferably, the total iscalculated by the order management system. Acceptance of payment via thepayment processing application may be completed at a point of saleterminal. Upon transferring the order, a payment confirmation is sent bythe payment processing application to the order creation application400. Then the sale is documented by the payment processing applicationwhich also initiates removal of a product from a retailer's inventoryfor those products 220 that are carried out or services purchased by thecustomer. The payment processing application is preferably located on anelectronic device server which resides in the brick-and-mortar retailestablishment and which receives a method of payment, which calculatesan order total, and which contacts a financial institution to authorizepayment, and which makes an entry showing products 220 have been sold.Preferably, a proof of purchase is generated and provided to thecustomer in a form that is not limited to a paper receipt printed on astore point of sale register, an electronic copy or on-line referencedelivered to the customer's electronic account, or a facsimile deliveredto a customer's fax machine.

Payment for the order can be obtained at a point of sale terminal whereall types of payment are accepted, including cash, check, electroniccards, EBT cards, vouchers or other cash equivalents. Funds for thepayment of the order may be obtained at different times, depending onmethod of dispense, and when the product 220 has been fulfilled. Theorder creation process may include creation of a layaway order, applyingpayment to the layaway order, creation of a money order and moneytransfer, and creation of a home delivery and an installation order. Apayment settlement process may include sending payment to a third partyfulfillment company such a direct shipping vendor, third partyfulfillment centers, a utility company, a processor of a money order ora money transfer, sending coupons or rewards to the manufacturer forreimbursement, and payment to the provider of a home delivery and of aninstallation order. A payment settlement process typically occurs afterpayment is received.

In addition to a payment method, the user is prompted to select an orderfulfillment method. Preferably, the order fulfillment method is apreregistered method associated with the user's account, however, theorder fulfillment method may be a new method which is manually enteredby the user via the local device 200 into the order creation application400. Upon selecting the order fulfillment method, an order fulfillmentselection indicating the selected order fulfillment method iscommunicated to an order fulfillment system 296, which then receives theorder fulfillment selection from the order creation application 400. Theorder fulfillment selection provides an order fulfillment method to theorder fulfillment system 296. The order fulfillment method includes anyone of a number of methods, such as delivering a product 220 within theorder to a user specified location, making a product 220 within theorder available for later pick up at the brick-and-mortar retailestablishment, personally carrying a product within the order out of thebrick-and-mortar retail establishment, arranging for recurring deliveryof a product 220 within the order to a user specified location, orretrieving a local inaccessible product 221 within the order from astorage location within the brick-and-mortar retail establishment anddelivering the local inaccessible product 221 to a loading location.Products 220 which are part of an order, but which have different orderfulfillment methods, may be split into separate fulfillment ordersdepending on the method of delivery and fulfillment.

Preferably, the loading location is at or near the brick-and-mortarretail establishment, such as a loading dock of the brick-and-mortarretail establishment. The order fulfillment method may also includespecifying a pre-designated time for picking up an order or a productwithin the order. In one embodiment, the user specified location isentered by the user by keying in a location into the local device 200,providing location information to the local device 200 from anotherdevice, or by scanning location information from a medium, such as adisplay, into the local device 200.

In one embodiment, upon selection of an order fulfillment method, theorder fulfillment system 296 delivers a product to the user according toa selected order fulfillment method, selected on the order creationapplication 400. In one embodiment, the user may select a recurringdelivery option for a product 220 in the order on the order creationapplication 400. In one embodiment, the order includes a plurality ofproducts, and wherein for at least two products a different orderfulfillment method is selected by the user. In one embodiment, for eachproduct in the order, a different order fulfillment method may beselected or entered in by the user. In one embodiment, the fulfillmentsystem 296 transmits instructions to retrieve a local inaccessibleproduct 221 from storage and load the product 221 onto a designatedvehicle at a designated loading location.

Upon selecting the order fulfillment method, the user is then promptedto provide an order confirmation in order to authorize payment for theorder by the order creation application 400. Upon receiving the requestfor an order confirmation, the user then confirms the order or mayreturn back into the shopping mode.

Preferably, either the user communicates to the order creationapplication 400 using the local device 200 to make a payment for theorder electronically using or the order creation application 400transfers the order to a point of sale register for payment and thecollection of funds. In one embodiment, either just before or just afterconfirming the order, but before authorizing payment, the order istransferred along with a selected payment method or methods and/or orderfulfillment preference or preferences to a retail point of saleterminal. The point of sale terminal then receives an acceptance orauthorization of payment from a financial institution associated withthe user's payment method. Preferably, the point of sale terminal doesnot communicate directly with the financial institution, but rather, thepoint of sale terminal has to go through an electronic paymentapplication, or hub of some kind, that dispatches payment info to theproper channel based on the payment type (i.e. Discover network or othercredit card network, EBT payment, etc.). Upon receiving an authorizationof payment, the point of sale terminal may then communicate and send apayment confirmation to the order creation application 400.

In one embodiment, upon being prompted to provide an order confirmation,and upon the user confirming the order, an on-line payment is completedvia the order creation application 400. In this embodiment, the ordercreation application 400 is connected to a financial institution,wherein the order creation application provides payment information tothe financial institution and receives authorization information fromthe financial institution to authorize payment for or reserve funds forpurchasing the product 220 and pay for the order.

Upon receiving the order confirmation from the local device 200, eitherthe order creation application 400 or the point of sale terminalgenerates an order and then contacts a financial institution 292, suchas a bank, to authorize payment for or reserve funds for purchasing theproduct 220. Upon authorizing payment or reserving funds, an ordermanagement system 294 is contacted, preferably by the either the ordercreation application 400, to process the order and an order fulfillmentsystem 296 to fulfill the order by obtaining and delivering the product220 to the user. Order fulfillment preferences are communicated from theorder creation application to the order fulfillment system 296.

With reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B, a method 300 for purchasing a productwith the local or mobile device 200 is initiated. Preferably, the method300 begins either by having the user either login to the order creationapplication 400 via the local or mobile device 200 at block 301, havingthe user create a user account at block 302, or having the user manuallyinput, scan, or capture identification information 222 at block 303. Atblock 301, the user may login to the order creation application 400 viathe local or local device 200 and identify himself/herself by enteringuser identification information into the local device 200 via inputmeans 210. User identification information may include a username, apassword, or both a username and a password.

If user is launching the order creation application 400 for the firsttime, the user may be prompted to create a user account before enteringuser identification information, at block 302. In creating a useraccount, the user is prompted to enter additional user information inaddition to user identification information in order to create anaccount. Additional user information includes any information which maybe used to identify a user, such as user's name, a user's address, auser's telephone number, payment information including a user's creditcard information or other user financial information, a user's mobilewallet account information, a user's social security number, a user'sdriver's license number, a user's birthdate, a user's government ID, andother identifying information which may or may not be stored by thelocal or mobile device 200 or remote server 240.

In creating the user account, the user may be prompted to providepayment information regarding a preferred payment method or methods,including credit card information, debit card information, mobile walletinformation, bank account information, and online payment information(i.e. PayPal™ account information). The user may also be prompted toprovide fulfillment information regarding a preferred order fulfillmentmethod, such as a the user's address, the user's vehicle information,and information for any other address or location in which the user maywish to have products within an order sent to. If a user is a new user,and the user is prompted to create an account, the user's account isthen registered with the order creation application 400. Preferably,both the payment information and fulfillment information are thencaptured and saved by the order creation application 400.

The user may not have to create an account or enter user identificationinformation in order to use order creation application 400. In oneembodiment, the user may use order creation application 400 anonymouslywithout creating an account, and therefore, in this embodiment, ananonymous virtual shopping cart is created while the user is stillshopping. When the user reaches the point when the user has to identifyhimself, i.e. to purchase products 220 via order creation application400, the user may have to then enter user identification information oradditional information which identifies the user. Under some scenarios,when the cart has only carry out products and payment is with cash orwith a gift card thorough a point of sale terminal, no user account needto be created at all and no information which identifies the user mayneed to be entered into the application 400.

In one embodiment, preferred payment method and order fulfillment methodinformation is transmitted to the order creation application 400 from athird party, such as a third-party mobile payment system or electronicpayment application 293 (such as PayPal™), as shown in FIG. 2. Theelectronic payment application 293 may be setup by a plurality ofbrick-and-mortar retailers, or by an entity which is separate and apartfrom the brick-and-mortar retailer in which the products 220 are beingpurchased. The electronic payment application 293 contains preferredpayment method and order fulfillment method information which wasprovided earlier by the user and is transmitted to the order creationapplication 400, at the user's discretion. The electronic paymentapplication 293 may also contain additional user information which mayor may not be shared with and transmitted to the order creationapplication 400, at the user's discretion. In regards to the presentinvention, the electronic payment application 293 serves as just anotherform of payment that the user may use.

Preferably, upon identifying the user, and creating an account for theuser (if necessary), the order creation application 400 then providesthe user with a home screen of the order creation application 400. Thehome screen may display store identifying information which providesinformation that identifies the specific brick-and-mortar retailestablishment in which the user is in, for example, by stating the cityand state in which the retail establishment is in or a store number forthe retail establishment. Preferably, the local or mobile device 200uses the location information processing means to determine the storeidentifying information. Preferably, the home screen includes a virtualshopping cart button, which when selected, presents the user with avirtual shopping cart on the screen of the local or mobile device 200,as shown in block 305.

With reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B, in one embodiment, if the useralready has an account or has already logged into the order creationapplication 400, the user may then manually input, scan, or capture theidentification information 222 including a product code 227, in order tobegin the process of purchasing the product 220, at block 303.Preferably, the user brings the local or mobile device 200 to within aline of sight of a device displaying identification information 222 inorder to visually scan identification information 222 or near a devicecontaining identification information 222 to enable wireless capture,such as RFID or NFC-based capture, of identification information 222.The user may also manually input the identification information 222 intothe local or mobile device 200.

Using the local or mobile device 200, the existing user may manuallyinput, scan, or capture the identification information 222 whichcontains the product 220's product code 227, at block 303. The product220's product code 227 is a unique identifier which identifies theproduct 220. Preferably, the local or mobile device 200 uses the ordercreation application 400 to scan or capture the identificationinformation 222 and to later purchase the product 220. The ordercreation application 400 may be run from a website or run on the localor mobile device 200. The local or mobile device 200 then transmits theidentification information 222 to the order creation application 400.Preferably, upon manually inputting, scanning, or capturing theidentification information 222 at block 303, a virtual shopping cart, tovirtually place the product 220 in, is created by the order creationapplication 400, at block 305.

In one embodiment, the user may manually input, scan, or captureidentification information 222 which contain a QR code 225 at block 303.The QR code 225 preferably contains the product 220's product code 227along with information 280 which provides a link for the local device200 to access a website, which contains more information about theproduct 220. In one embodiment, the website contains the order creationapplication 400 used to purchase the product 220.

With reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, upon inputting, scanning, or capturingthe QR code, at block 303, the local device 200 automatically opens theorder creation application 400 used to purchase the product 220, and theproduct 220's product code 227 is transmitted to the order creationapplication 400. The order creation application 400 preferable residesat the website, however, it is possible to have the order creationapplication 400 reside on the local device 200 or any other computerconnected with the local device 200. At block 303 a, upon inputting,scanning, or capturing identification information 222 which contain QRcode 225, preferably a website, which contains more information aboutthe product 220, is launched and presented to the user. Preferably, thewebsite is in communication with or contains the order creationapplication 400. Preferably, upon scanning the QR code at block 303 andlaunching the website at block 303 a, the order creation application400, or any other application used to assist in purchasing the product220, which is preferably specified in the QR code, is then launched aswell at block 303 b. The website provides the user with additionalinformation about the product 220, and preferably provides the user withthe price of the product 220. In this manner, by simply inputting,capturing or scanning identification information 222 which contains a QRcode 225, a website which contains more information about the product220, is launched and presented to the user, and an application, such asthe order creation application 400, is launched as well.

Upon launching the website at block 303 a and opening the order creationapplication at block 303 b, a virtual cart is then created at block 305,the product 220 is identified from the QR code at block 303 c, and theidentified product 220 is added to the virtual cart, preferablyautomatically added to the virtual cart, at block 306.

In one embodiment, upon adding the product 220 to the virtual shoppingcart, a dispense type is selected for the product 220 added to thevirtual shopping cart at block 306, preferably by the user. However, adefault dispense type may also be automatically selected by theapplication 400. The default dispense type designates a predetermined orpreregistered manner in which the user would like the product 220dispensed. Preferably, the default dispense type is selected from agroup of dispense types which includes things such as: personallycarrying the product 220 out of the brick-and-mortar retailestablishment, also known as “carry,” having the product 220 loaded intothe user's vehicle, also known as “load,” having the product 220provided to the user at a predetermined location whereby the user willgo to get that product 220, also known as “pickup,” and delivering theproduct 220 to the user at a predetermined location, also known as“delivery.” Upon selecting the dispense type for the product 220, theorder creation application transmits the dispense type to thebrick-and-mortar retail establishment, and preferably to an orderfulfillment center, for processing the order.

Additionally, once the dispense type is selected, for each dispense typea fulfillment method is selected, either automatically, such as by theapplication 400, or manually by the user. The fulfillment method may beautomatically selected from a preregistered list of fulfillment methods,or from a single provided fulfillment method, based on many factors suchas the dispense type and/or the method of inputting the identificationinformation. The user may select a preregistered fulfillment method orprovide a fulfillment method, if necessary, that is specific to thatuser. The fulfillment method provides additional information specific tothe user, such as a user's local, home, or business address or a user'svehicle identifying information. For example, if the dispense typeselected is “load,” then identifying information about the user'svehicle may be provided or selected by the user from already enteredinformation, and if the dispense type selected is “delivery,” theninformation such as the address of the place that the user wishes theproduct 220 to be delivered is selected. Preferably, for each product220 in the order, a dispense method and a fulfillment method isselected, either automatically, or manually by the user.

Both the website and the application 400 assist the user in purchasingthe product 220. In addition to launching a website and an application,upon simply inputting, capturing or scanning identification information222 which contains a QR code 225, a virtual shopping cart is created,preferably by either the website or the application 400, and the product220 is preferably automatically placed in the virtual shopping cart aswell.

Upon the method 300 beginning by either by having the user either loginto the order creation application 400, preferably via the local ormobile device 200 at block 301, having the user create a user account atblock 302, or having the user manually input, scan, or captureidentification information 222 at block 303, a virtual shopping cart iscreated, at block 305. Preferably, the virtual shopping cart is createdby the order creation application 400, at block 305. Preferably, theorder creation application 400 may run on the remote server 240 (localdevice 200 acting as a client) or on the local device 200 itself.Preferably, the application 400 interacts with other system componentsthrough the remote server 240. Remote sewer 240 hosts the web site.Virtual shopping cart is created by the order creation application 400.

Upon creating a virtual shopping cart at block 305, the product 220 isidentified, preferably by using the manually input, scanned, or capturedidentification information 222, at block 306. Preferably, the product220 is identified by or through the order creation application 400. Inone embodiment, upon manually inputting, scanning, or capturingidentification information 222 which contain QR code 225, preferably awebsite, which contains more information about the product 220, is incommunication with the order creation application 400 and assists inidentifying the product 220.

Alternatively, upon creating a virtual shopping cart at block 305, theuser may then manually input, scan, or capture identificationinformation 222 at block 307, for possibly another product 220 or for afirst product 220, depending on whether the user has already manuallyinput, scanned or captured identification information 222. Preferably,identification information 222 contains another product 220's UPC orproduct code 227, illustrations or images 229 of or on the product 220,information from an RFID device such as an RFC code, or information froman NFC sensor such as an NFC ID, or any other digitally encodedinformation 231, at block 307. Upon manually inputting, capturing, orscanning the identification information 222, the identificationinformation 222 is then transmitted to the order creation application400 and used to identify the product 220 at block 306.

Upon identifying the product 220 at block 306, the product 220 is thenadded to the virtual shopping cart at block 306. Preferably, the product220 is automatically placed in the virtual shopping cart and anindicator is present near the virtual shopping cart button to indicatethis.

With reference to FIGS. 3 and 5, upon creating a virtual shopping cartat block 305, the user may then manually input, scan, or captureidentification information 222 at block 307, for possibly anotherproduct 220 or for a first product 220, depending on whether the userhas already manually input, scanned or captured identificationinformation 222. With reference to blocks 307 a-307 f, manuallyinputting, scanning or capturing identification information 222 at block307 may include manually inputting, scanning or capturing: a QR code225, preferably having a site link to a website and a product code 227for the product 220, at block 307 a; a UPC code 224 linked to theproduct 220, at block 307 b; a wireless code 233 such as an RFID codelinked to the product 220, at block 307 c; a product illustration orimage 229 linked to the product 220, at block 307 d; a wireless code 233such as an NFC code linked to the product 220, at block 307 e; and anyother digitally coded product identification, at block 307 f.

Upon manually inputting, scanning or capturing identificationinformation 222 at blocks 307 a-307 f, the method 300 then identifiesthe product 220, at block 306, which is broken down into correspondingblocks 306 a-306 f, depending on the type of identification information222 which was manually input, scanned or captured at blocks 307 a-307 f.For example, at block 306 d, the illustration or image 229 which wasscanned or captured may be matched to another image within a catalogueof images in order to identify the product or service 220. Additionally,if other digitally coded product identification is captured at block 307f, then at block 306 f, the product 220 may be identified usingsoftware, such as code recognition software. Upon identifying theproduct 220 at blocks 306 a-306 f, the product 220 is added to thevirtual shopping cart at block 306.

Additionally, in one embodiment, upon identifying the product 220 atblock 306, information regarding the product 220, is provided to theuser, preferably at the home screen. The information regarding theproduct 220 may include a description of the product 220, the product220's price, along with reviews regarding the product 220. In oneembodiment, the information regarding the product 220 includes the priceof the product 220 at other comparable online and local brick-and-mortarretail establishments which carry and sell the product 220. In thismanner, the user can compare the price of the product 220 that the userwishes to purchase at other online and local brick-and-mortar retailestablishments which carry and sell the product 220 in order todetermine if the user should buy the product 220 from the current retailestablishment that the order creation application 400 is linked to, oranother retail establishment.

In one embodiment, upon presenting the user with product informationregarding the product 220 that includes the price of the product 220 atother comparable online and local brick-and-mortar retail establishmentswhich carry and sell the product 220, the user is provided the option toget a price match for the product 220 which matches the price of thecurrent retail establishment with the lowest price listed provided tothe user at other comparable online and local brick-and-mortar retailestablishments. In this manner, by providing the user with informationthat includes the price of the product 220 at other comparable onlineand local brick-and-mortar retail establishments which carry and sellthe product 220, and preferably by proving the user with an option toget a price match for the product 220, the user is hopefully encouragedto purchase the product 220 at the current retail establishment insteadof another retail establishment, thereby reducing the chance ofshowrooming by the user.

In one embodiment, once the product 220 is added to the virtual shoppingcart at block 306, a default dispense type is selected for all products220 in the virtual shopping cart, at block 306. Preferably, the defaultdispense type is selected by the user, however, it may also beautomatically selected by the application 400, at block 306 g. In oneembodiment, the default dispense type is automatically selected based onthe type of product 220 added, such as a locally accessible product 220,a locally inaccessible product 221, an online product, or a remoteproduct. For example, if a remote product is added, then a defaultdispense type of “delivery” or “pickup” may be automatically selectedbased upon the distance of the remote product from the user.Additionally, if an online product is added, then a default dispensetype of “delivery” may be automatically selected. If a locallyaccessible product 220 is selected, then a default dispense type of“carry” may be automatically selected. If a locally inaccessible product221 is selected, then a default dispense type of “carry” or “load” maybe automatically selected depending on the type of product 221 (i.e.overweight or expensive). In one embodiment, the default dispense typecan be automatically selected or assigned based on the method ofinputting a product 220's identification information 222 and then can belater changed by the user, if necessary. For example, when scanning aUPC code/barcode, the application 400 should set the default dispensetype to “carry” and for selections made from an on-line catalog, set thedefault dispense type to “delivery.”

Dispense type is defined as the manner in which the user would like theproduct 220 dispensed to the user, and includes things such as:personally carrying the product 220 out of the brick-and-mortar retailestablishment, also known as “carry,” having the product 220 loaded intothe user's vehicle, also known as “load,” having the product 220provided to the user at a predetermined location whereby the user willgo to get that product 220, also known as “pickup,” and delivering theproduct 220 to the user at a predetermined location, also known as“delivery.” For example, the user may determine and mark that each theproduct 220 added to the virtual shopping cart is by default a carry outproduct 220, that is, whether or not the product 220 is a product 220that the user can receive at the brick-and-mortar retail establishmentand/or carry out of the brick-and-mortar retail establishment.

With reference to FIGS. 3, upon adding the product 220 to the virtualshopping cart at block 306, the user is shown information about theproduct 220, such as its name or product identification information, atblock 308. Additionally, at block 308, the user is also shown thequantity of products 220 ordered by the user, and the user has theoption of enter additional quantities of that product 220 to the virtualshopping cart, either by manually inputting, scanning, or capturingidentification information 222 again, such as by scanning the productcode 227 again at block 330, or the user may manually enter additionalquantities of that product 220 at block 331. Upon manually inputting,scanning, or capturing identification information 222 again at block 330or upon manually entering additional quantities of that product 220 atblock 331, the product quantity is captured within the virtual shoppingcart at block 332, and the method 300 moves to block 306. Additionally,at blocks 308 and 308′, the user is able to select a different dispensetype for each individual product 220 added to the virtual shopping cart.

Additionally, if no additional quantities of that product 220 to thevirtual shopping cart are desired, then upon adding the product 220 tothe virtual shopping cart at block 308, the method 300 moves to block309 whereby all the products 220 which have been added to the virtualshopping cart are shown to the user, and the user is allowed to selectfulfillment or delivery options for all or for each product 220 whichhas been added to the virtual shopping cart. Additionally, at block 309,the user is allowed to select or input contact information for the user.Contact information for the user may include the user's email address,home address, shipping address, billing address, and telephone number.The user may select a preregistered contact information or the user mayinput new contact information at block 309. Delivery options preferablyinclude information about locations at which the user wishes to haveproducts 220 delivered to or picked-up from or loaded into the user'svehicle.

Preferably, upon adding the products 220 to the virtual cart at block308, the user may select a checkout button, which moves the method toblock 309 and presents the user with the total contents of the virtualshopping cart.

Upon showing all the products 220 which have been added to the virtualshopping cart to the user, and upon the user being allowed to selectfulfillment options at block 309, the user may add additional products220 at block 307.

Alternatively, upon showing all the products 220 which have been addedto the virtual shopping cart to the user, and upon the user beingallowed to select fulfillment at block 309, the user then has the optionto select and/or register alternative fulfillment or dispense optionsfor how the user wishes each product 220 in the virtual shopping cart tobe fulfilled, at block 310.

At blocks 309 and 310, the user is presented with the options ofselecting either a preregistered manner of dispensing or fulfilling theorder or a new manner of dispensing or fulfilling the order, enteredmanually by the user. The user may select a different manner ofdispensing or fulfilling the order for each product 220 within theorder. The manner of dispensing or fulfilling the order includes any oneof a number of fulfillment methods, such as delivering a product 220within the order to a user specified location, making a product 220within the order available for later pick up at the brick-and-mortarretail establishment, personally carrying a product within the order outof the brick-and-mortar retail establishment, arranging for recurringdelivery of a product 220 within the order to a user specified location,or retrieving a local inaccessible product 221 within the order from astorage location within the brick-and-mortar retail establishment anddelivering the local inaccessible product 221 to a loading location.Products 220 which are part of an order, may be split into separatefulfillment orders, depending on the method of dispense and fulfillment.

With reference to FIG. 6, in one embodiment, the user proceeds to shopfor products 220 using method 300, at block 300 labeled “shop.” Thenupon shopping for products 220, the method 300 moves to block 309,whereupon the user is presented with the option of selecting apreregistered a manner of dispensing or fulfilling the order, and thento blocks 340 and 341.

At block 340, the method 300 includes identifying the user or customervia login to the customer's account or login at the order creationapplication 400, or via a unique identifier 282 which is preferablytransmitted to the order creation application 400. Upon identifying theuser at block 340, the user's preregistered fulfillment options areretrieved at block 341.

If a delivery fulfillment option is selected, the method 300 moves fromblock 341 to block 309 b, whereby the user is shown preregistereddelivery options, such as delivery to preregistered address, preferablyentered by the user. If the preregistered delivery options are notdesired by the user, then the user has the option of editing thedelivery option information at block 309 h or entering new deliveryoption information at block 309 i. Delivery option information containinformation provided by the user in order to help fulfill delivery ofthe product 220 to the user, such as the user's home address, workaddress, or other such address, the user's telephone number, and/or theuser's email address. Then the new delivery option information is savedto the user's account at block 309 j, and the method goes back to block309 b. Upon showing the registered delivery option to the user at block309 b, the user then selects a registered delivery option at 309 k, andthe order is moved to completion at block 311.

If a carry out fulfillment option is selected, the method 300 moves fromblock 341 to block 309 l, whereby the user selects to personally carry aproduct from and leave the retail establishment, and then the order ismoved to completion at block 311.

If a pickup fulfillment option is selected, whereby the user chooses topick-up the product 220 at a pre-designated location, the method movesfrom block 341 to block 309 c, whereby available pre-designated orpickup locations are shown to the user. The user selects a pickuplocation at block 309 m and then the order is moved to completion atblock 311.

If a load fulfillment option is selected, whereby the user desires thatthe product 220 is loaded into or performed on or at the user's vehicle,then the method moves from block 341 to block 309 d whereby the user isshown preregistered vehicles and then selects a preregistered vehiclefor which the product 220 is loaded into or performed on or at, at block309 n. If the preregistered registered vehicles shown are not desired bythe user, then the user has the option of editing vehicle optioninformation at block 309 e or entering new vehicle option information atblock 309 f. Vehicle option information contains information provided bythe user in order to help fulfill loading the product 220 into theuser's vehicle, such as a description of the user's vehicle includingthings such as the make, model, year and color of the user's vehicle,the vehicle's license plate number, or other identifying information orfeatures of the user or the user's vehicle. Then the vehicle optioninformation is saved to the user's account at block 309 g, and themethod goes back to block 309 d, where the user is shown preregisteredvehicle options. Upon showing the preregistered vehicle options to theuser at block 309 d, the user then selects a preregistered vehicleoption at 309 n. Upon selecting a preregistered vehicle at block 309 n,the method moves to block 309 o, whereby available loading locations areshown to the user and the user selects an available loading location atblock 309 p, and then the order is moved to completion at block 311.Available loading locations are provided by the brick-and-mortar retailestablishment to the user, preferably via the order creation application400, and include any location in which the user's vehicle can travel toand park in order to load product 220 into the vehicle. Availableloading locations may include specific addresses, dock numbers or names,or even GPS coordinates or links which provide information to the usersufficient to locate a location.

Upon selecting fulfillment options at block 309, the method moves toblock 311 whereby the user is presented with the options of selectingeither a registered payment method or inputting a new or selecting analternative payment method, at block 312, for the order.

With reference to FIG. 7, the user initiates an order checkout at block309, whereupon the user is shown all the products 220 in the virtualshopping cart, and the user is allowed to select a fulfillment optionfor each product 220 in the virtual shopping cart. Then, the methodeither moves to block 311 a where the user's registered payment methodoptions are pulled, to block 350 for non-registered payment methods madevia telephone having no restricted products whereby an electronicpayment is entered, or to block 313 for non-registered payment methodsmade via a point-of-sale device.

Moving to block 311 a, the user's registered payment method options areretrieved, preferably by the order creation application 400 andpreferably from remote server 240, and then the user is requested toselect a registered payment method at block 311 and then a paymentchannel is selected at block 311 e, preferably by the order creationapplication 400.

Preferably, the registered payment methods are shown to the user atblock 311 b, and the user either selects a registered payment method atblock 311 and edits or enters new payment methods at blocks 311 c or312. Payment methods may include any type of payment methods, such asPayPal™ or other online payment methods, credit cards, debit cards,money order, government benefit, gift cards, checks, and any otherfinancial instrument which can be used to purchase the product 220. Eachregistered payment method preferably includes the user's payment methodinformation, for each user's own payment methods. The user's paymentmethod information may include any one of the user's registered paymentmethods associated with the user's account, such as a PayPal™ account orother online payment account information, credit, debit, money,government benefit, or gift card information, bank account information,and any other information related to a financial payment methods whichcan be used to provide authorization of funds to purchase the product220. At block 311 b, if a user does not wish to select a registeredpayment method, the user may edit a registered payment method at block311 c to change any of the user's payment method information, or theuser may enter a new registered payment method at block 312 and thensave the edited or new registered payment method information to theuser's account at block 311 d. After saving the edited or new registeredpayment method information to the user's account at block 311 d, theuser may then select a registered payment method at block 311. The usermay select a different fulfillment and payment methods for each product220 within the order.

Upon selecting fulfillment and payment methods for products 220 withinthe order, the user then moves to block 311 e whereupon the user isrequested to select a payment type, preferably by the order creationapplication 400. Payment type selection involves deciding whether or notthe user wishes to use actual physical payment instruments or electronicpayment instruments. Actual physical payment instruments are paymentinstruments which are carried by the user such as physical credit cards,checks, cash or other type payment methods which are on the user andbeing carried by the user. Electronic payment instruments arenon-physical, electronic methods of payment and includes any paymentmethod information which is in electronic form. If the payment typeselected is an actual physical payment instrument, then the method 300moves form block 311 e to block 313, whereby the virtual shopping cartand its contents are transferred along with a selected payment method toa retail point of sale terminal, such as a cash register orself-checkout kiosk. Then at block 314, the user then pays for the fullamount of the order at the retail point of sale terminal, using theselected payment method. As a result, the present method 300 providesthe user with the ability to pay for the entire order using a singletransaction or single payment, regardless of whether the order includeslocal accessible products, local inaccessible products 221, onlineproducts, or remote products.

If the selected payment method is cash, the user essentially thenauthorizes payment by handing the cash to the cashier or point of saleterminal at block 317″, and any online products are paid in full at thattime, at block 314 a, and the method moves to block 317 b wherebypayment in full is registered for all products 220, including carry outproducts. If the selected payment method is an electronic instrumentwhich needs to be later cleared, such as a credit cards or checks, thenthe method 300 moves from block 314 to block 317 a, whereby a paymentpre-authorization for any online products being purchased in the orderis made, and then once the online products are later fulfilled, as shownin block 321, the remaining balance is charged to those electronicinstruments at block 360 and the online and local brick-and-mortarretail establishment accounts are settled at block 361. Upon obtaining apayment pre-authorization for any online products being purchased in theorder, the method moves from block 317 a to block 317 b.

At block 311 e, if the payment type selected is an electronic paymentinstrument, then the method 300 moves form block 311 e to block 317′,whereby the user authorizes a charge for the full amount of the order,preferably using the order creation application 400 via the local device200 to make an electronic payment for the products 220. As a result, thepresent method 300 provides the user with the ability to pay for theentire order using a single transaction or single payment, regardless ofwhether the order includes local accessible products, local inaccessibleproducts 221, online products, or remote products. A single transactionor single payment, may use multiple payment types for each of theproducts 220 being ordered, however, a single authorization for paymentis all that is required for all products 220 in the order, regardless ofwhat the products types of each product 220 in the order is (i.e. localaccessible products, local inaccessible products 221, online products,or remote products), thus forming what is known herein as a “singletransaction” or “single payment” for the order. The order in which asingle payment or single transaction is made, can cover a variety ofdifferent product types (i.e. local accessible products, localinaccessible products 221, online products, or remote products) whichmay have to be obtained through various fulfillment methods or channels(i.e. via a local brick-and-mortar retail establishment, via a nearbybrick-and-mortar retail establishment, via an online website and aremote warehouse, and via a loading dock), and is therefore known as amulti-channel order. Once the “single payment” is authorized, actualpayment for each product 220 in the order may be made at various times.For example, payment for some products 220, such as local accessibleproducts which are in the user's possession or physical shopping cart,may be made immediately, either via electronic payment or using cash orsome other form of payment, either via the local device 200 or via apoint of sale terminal. Payment for other types of products, such aslocal inaccessible products 221, online products, or remote products,may be made once the user receives the product 220 or the product 220has been shipped or delivered to the user. As a result, payment forproducts 220 in the order may be made at various times depending on theproducts 220 in the order, however, the payment authorization for allproducts 220 in the order is made all at once, with a singleauthorization, using a single transaction.

A multi-channel order allows the user to purchase a variety of differentproducts 220 using a variety of different payment and fulfillmentmethods, all within a single order and paid for in a single transactionto providing the user with a flexible shopping experience. Paying forthe order, or authorizing payment for the order, using a singletransaction requires the user to make a single authorization of paymentfor the entire order, preferably all at one instance in time, such asbuy pressing a “purchase confirmation” button provided by the ordercreation application 400, which indicates that the user wishes topurchase all products 220 in the virtual shopping cart or order, inaccordance with the payment method or methods selected for each product220 in the virtual shopping cart or order, and in accordance with thefulfillment method or methods selected for each product 220 in thevirtual shopping cart or order.

Additionally, a multi-channel virtual shopping cart or multi-channelorder is created when placing a variety of different products 220 ofvarying product types (i.e. local accessible products, localinaccessible products 221, online products, or remote products) using avariety of different payment channels (electronic or mobile paymentusing a local device 200, payment via a kiosk, and payment via a pointof sale terminal), using a variety of different payment methods (i.e.credit card payment, debit card payment, money order payment, checkpayment, cash payment, government benefit payment (i.e. food stamps),gift card payment, travelers check payment, or online account paymentsuch as a PayPal™ account or other online account) and a variety ofdifferent fulfillment methods (i.e. delivery, pickup, or load), allwithin a single virtual shopping cart or all within a single order.

Preferably, in one embodiment, the present invention allows for a“single payment” or “single transaction” to be made for a multi-channelvirtual shopping cart or multi-channel order having a variety ofdifferent products 220 of varying product types using a variety ofdifferent payment channels, using a variety of different payment methodsand a variety of different fulfillment methods, all within a singlevirtual shopping cart or all within a single order. Preferably, in thisembodiment, upon making the “single payment” or “single transaction,”the systems within this invention then arrange for actual payment ofeach product 220, the timing of which may depend on the product type,the order fulfillment method, and the payment method. For example, ifthe product is an online product and the payment is an electronic ormobile payment using a local device 200, then the actual payment may bemade once the product 220 is actually shipped by the retailer.Additionally, upon making the “single payment” or “single transaction,”the systems within this invention may also automatically choose an orderfulfillment method and fulfill the automatically chosen fulfillmentmethod, if a fulfillment method is not already selected. In this manner,a user can purchase products 220 which have a variety of differentproduct types, which have a variety of different order fulfillmentmethods, and a variety of different payment methods using a variety ofdifferent payment types all within a single order, using a “singlepayment” or “single transaction.”

Then the method moves to block 317 a, whereby payment preauthorizationis made for on-line products being ordered and then to block 317 bwhereby payment is made in full for carry out products. From block 317b, the method moves to block 337 a, whereby purchased products 220 whichare carry out products are then carried out of the brick-and-mortarretail establishment.

With reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B, upon showing the products 220 to theuser in the virtual shopping cart at block 309 and before authorizingpayment at block 317, the user may be then presented with subtotalinformation with a subtotal amount for the contents of the virtualshopping cart and total information which presents the user with a totalamount for the order which contains the contents of the virtual shoppingcart. If the user confirms his/her intent to purchase product 220, andauthorizes the payment of the order via order creation application 400,then the method 300 moves to block 317 whereby payment authorization isrequested from a financial institution associated with the user inaccordance with the payment method, or payment methods selected.

In one embodiment, the user may decide not to authorize payment of theorder via order creation application 400. In this embodiment, the usermay then transfer the contents of the virtual cart to an alternatepurchasing system, such as a point of sale (POS) terminal or aself-checkout terminal at block 313, and then pay for the order via thealternate purchasing system, at block 314. Then the method 300 moves toblock 317 whereby payment authorization is requested from a financialinstitution associated with the user in accordance with the paymentmethod, or payment methods selected.

Preferably, upon authorizing payment at block 317, payment informationis generated and then transmitted to the remote server 240, whereuponthe order is then marked paid and a receipt is generated and provided tothe user, either physically or digitally.

Preferably, upon authorizing payment at block 317, the financialsettlement terms are identified at block 318, whether the order wasauthorized electronically via the order creation application 400 or at abrick-and-mortar retail establishment by an alternate purchasing system.Preferably, an acknowledgment that payment has been received is sent tothe local device 200 from the remote server 240 and displayed to theuser via a payment received screen which is generated by the ordercreation application 400. In one embodiment, a digital copy of thereceipt is transmitted to the user from the remote server 240.Preferably, the digital copy of the receipt is transmitted from theremote server 240 to the local device 200 and displayed. In oneembodiment, the digital copy of the receipt is transmitted from theremote server 240 in an email to an email address of the user.Preferably, upon generating and sending an acknowledgment that paymenthas been received, the server 240 then changes the current virtualshopping cart into a past virtual shopping cart, retrievable by the uservia the order history button. Sales transaction and receipt informationis stored on the remote server 240 and is thus accessible for a varietyof purposes: including but not limited to: asset protection solutions,return validation, customer reference, and the like.

Upon identifying the financial settlement terms at block 318, anaccounting for all physical or carry out products that that the user hasreceived and purchased is conducted at block 333, and preferably, thisinformation is provided to remote server 240. Any products 220 in theorder that are not physical or carry out products that that the user hasreceived are then reviewed along with their fulfillment method (i.e.delivery, pickup, or load) and dispatch orders are sent to appropriatefulfillment centers in order to fulfill each product 220 in the order atblock 334. Fulfillment centers include online fulfillment centers formailing and delivering online products 220, local fulfillment centers,such as nearby brick-and-mortar retail establishments or loading docks,for fulfilling pickup or load fulfillment methods. For some products220, such as carry out items, the customer immediately takes possessionof the products 220 at block 337, once an accounting for all physical orcarry out items that that the user has received and purchased isconducted at block 333, whereby the order is complete.

In addition to sending orders for products 220 which are items to thefulfillment centers, orders for products 220 which are services may alsobe sent out. Services, such as warranties, may be fulfilled or activatedor initiated by the brick-and-mortar retail establishment or through athird party service provider at block 345. For example, phone activationfor an ordered sendee may be initiated with a third party company thatprovides the ordered sendee. At block 346, updates related to the sendeemay be sent to the user using the user's contact information and thenthe service may be provided to the user at block 347, whereby the orderis completed.

Upon sending dispatch orders at block 334, the method 300 moves to block319, and the order is fulfilled by the retail establishment at afulfillment center and an order shipment confirmation is sent to theuser using the user's contact information at block 320 once the orderhas been fulfilled by the fulfillment center. The order may be fulfilledin any one of a number of ways. In one embodiment, the order isfulfilled by the user by allowing the user to grab the product 220 fromthe shelf and personally carrying a product from and leave the retailestablishment. In another embodiment, the order is fulfilled via afulfillment center, such as an online fulfillment center, by shippingthe product 220, sending an order shipment confirmation to the userusing the user's provided contact information at block 320, and thendelivering the product 220 to the user, preferably to a pre-designatedlocation or providing the service at a pre-designated location, at block321. Alternatively, the order may be delivered to a pre-designatedpickup location, at block 336 if the product 220 is a local inaccessibleproduct 221.

Upon dispatching orders for non-carry out products, products 220 whichare not locally accessible, such as a local inaccessible product 221, anonline product, or a remote product, the method moves to blocks 334,319, 335, 320, 321, and 336 in order to fulfill the order. Products 220which are not locally accessible may be delivered to the user in one ofmany ways. In one embodiment, the products 220 is delivered to theuser's address of choice by shipping the product 220 via postal,delivery, or courier services or providing the service at apre-designated location at block 320. In another embodiment, the product220 is a local inaccessible product 221 located in a brick-and-mortarretail establishment. The local inaccessible product 221 is any productwhich can be purchased at a brick-and-mortar retail establishment, butfor any reason, must be provided to the user by an employee of thebrick-and-mortar retail establishment. For example, large items, such asfurniture, televisions, or lawn equipment, may be too large to place onthe shopping floor of the brick-and-mortar retail establishment or tooheavy for the user to pick-up on his own, and require an employee of thebrick-and-mortar retail establishment to assist in the delivery of sucha product. Additionally, expensive items, such as jewelry, watches, orelectronics, may be too valuable to place on the on the shopping floorof the brick-and-mortar retail establishment and require an employee ofthe brick-and-mortar retail establishment to assist in the delivery ofsuch a product. Preferably, for a local inaccessible product 221, thelocal inaccessible product 221 is taken to a loading location, such as aloading dock, at block 335, and then the customer takes possession ofthe product 221.

Furthermore, some products may not be available at the brick-and-mortarretail establishment, such as a warranty service or a car repairservice, and need to be delivered to or performed at a pre-designatedlocation other than the brick-and-mortar retail establishment. Theproduct 220 is delivered to this pre-designated or pickup location atblock 336. The pre-designated location can be a customer's home oranother shipping location, such as a relative or friend's location, oran alternative pickup location. The product 220 may be delivered to theuser by drop shipment using a traditional mail carrier, such as UPS orthe USPS, or home delivery by the brick-and-mortar retail establishment,as shown in block 321. Home delivery may include an option ofinstallation. Some products 220, such as groceries and/or bulky items,may be delivered or provided locally by the brick-and-mortar retailestablishment. Some products 220 are not available at thebrick-and-mortar retail establishment and may be shipped using a mailcarrier or provided remotely, such as some services.

In one embodiment, the user provides the local or mobile device 200 withidentification information 222 for the local inaccessible product 221.Preferably, the identification information 222 is located within thebrick-and-mortar retail establishment.

With reference to FIG. 8, once the local inaccessible product 221 isplaced in the virtual shopping cart at block 308, then at block 309, theuser selects or indicates delivery options for that local inaccessibleproduct 221. Preferably, the local inaccessible product 221 is requiredto be provided to the user by meeting the user or the user's vehicle ata pre-designated location. If the local inaccessible product 221 is tobe purchased, then loading options are selected by the user at block309. The loading options provide the retail establishment withinformation about the user or the user's vehicle, so that the retailestablishment may identify and meet with the user or the user's vehicle.The loading options may include user identifying information whichidentifies the user, such as a photograph or description of the userprovided to the application 400 by the user. The loading options mayinclude vehicle identifying information provided to the application 400by the user.

Preferably, the vehicle identifying information is preregistered in theorder creation application 400, however the user may manually enter newvehicle identifying information into the application 400. Vehicleidentifying information is any information which can identify a vehicle,preferably the vehicle that the user is driving, and includes suchthings as the vehicle's make, model, year, color, license plate number,VIN number, a photo of the vehicle, or any information which may be usedto identify the vehicle that the user is driving, such as locationinformation. In one embodiment, the vehicle identifying informationincludes location information detailing the present location of theuser's vehicle. Preferably, the vehicle identifying information istransmitted along with the order to the order fulfillment system. Thevehicle identifying information is used to identify the user's vehicleby the retail establishment. In one embodiment, the vehicle identifyinginformation is keyed in manually or selected from a plurality of thepreregistered delivery methods.

Preferably, the application 400 provides the user with informationregarding a pre-designated area where the local inaccessible product 221may be retrieved or provided. Preferably, the pre-designated area isnear or part of the brick-and-mortar retail establishment. However, thepre-designated area may be remote from the retail establishment, such asat a storage depot or even another retail establishment.

Then, at block 370, the system notifies an employee at the retailestablishment of a pending order for the local inaccessible product 221.Moving to block 371, the employee then retrieves the local inaccessibleproduct 221 and prepares the order for loading into the user's vehicleor providing to the user. The local inaccessible product 221 is thenstaged in a designated staging area, next to or near the pre-designatedarea, at block 372. Once the local inaccessible product 221 is staged ina designated staging area, the user is notified that the order is readyto be retrieved by the user or loaded into the user's vehicle, at block373.

Then, the user drives his vehicle or goes to the pre-designated area toretrieve the local inaccessible product 221, at block 374. Preferably,the user or the order creation application 400 then directs the user'svehicle to the pre-designated area where the local inaccessible product221 may be retrieved. The order creation application 400 may direct theuser's vehicle using location information from the local or mobiledevice 200 and provides the user with turn-by-turn directions inresponse to the location information.

Moving to block 375, preferably the system or an employee determinesthat the user or the user's vehicle is at or near the pre-designatedarea, and the employee is notified of this at block 376. Thedetermination that the user or the user's vehicle is at or near thepre-designated area may be made either automatically using sensorsand/or computers, or manually by employees of the brick-and-mortarretail establishment using vehicle identifying information provided bythe application 400.

Preferably, the system provides the employee with information regardingthe order and the local inaccessible product 221 which needs to be movedfrom the staging area to the pre-designated area, at block 377. Then,the employee moved the local inaccessible product 221 from the stagingarea at block 378 and to the pre-designated area at block 380.Preferably, user identifying information or vehicle identifyinginformation is provided to the employee, such as by displaying thisinformation, at block 379. In one embodiment, the system uses locationinformation in order to facilitate delivering of the local inaccessibleproduct 221 to the user. Preferably, the location information detailsthe present location of the user or the user's vehicle, and the retailestablishment uses this location information to deliver the product 221to the user.

Moving to block 381, upon moving the local inaccessible product 221 tothe pre-designated area, the employee then confirms the order includingthe local inaccessible product 221 with the user, at block 381.Preferably, the system generates an order acceptance and liabilitywaiver at block 382, and the user indicates acceptance of the orderincluding the local inaccessible product 221 at block 383. The systemthen records the order and waiver acceptance at block 384 and theemployee provides the order including the local inaccessible product 221to the user or loads the order including the local inaccessible product221 into the user's vehicle, at block 385. Preferably, the user thenindicates deliver of the order including the local inaccessible product221 at block 386, the system records this delivery at block 387,generates a receipt notification at block 388 and the load order iscompleted at block 389.

Preferably, in one embodiment, the application 400 provides the userwith a pre-designated time for retrieving the local inaccessible product221 at the pre-designated area. In another embodiment, the local device200 automatically transmits or forwards arrival information to theretail establishment, preferably to a remote server in communicationwith the retail establishment. Preferably, the arrival informationindicates when the user and/or the user's vehicle will arrive, orindicates that the user and/or the user's vehicle have arrived, at thepre-designated area. Upon receiving the arrival information, the retailestablishment or employee delivers the local inaccessible product 221 tothe user or the user's vehicle using the arrival information.

Those having skill, in the art will recognize that the state of the arthas progressed to the point where there is little distinction leftbetween hardware and software implementations of aspects of systems; theuse of hardware or software is generally (but not always, in that incertain contexts the choice between hardware and software can becomesignificant) a design choice representing cost vs. efficiency tradeoffs.Those having skill in the art will appreciate that there are variousvehicles by which processes and/or systems and/or other technologiesdescribed herein can be effected (e.g., hardware, software, and/orfirmware), and that the preferred vehicle will vary with the context inwhich the processes and/or systems and/or other technologies aredeployed. For example, if an implementer determines that speed andaccuracy are paramount, the implementer may opt for a mainly hardwareand/or firmware vehicle; alternatively, if flexibility is paramount, theimplementer may opt for a mainly software implementation; or, yet againalternatively, the implementer may opt for some combination of hardware,software, and/or firmware. Hence, there are several possible vehicles bywhich the processes and/or devices and/or other technologies describedherein may be effected, none of which is inherently superior to theother in that any vehicle to be utilized is a choice dependent upon thecontext in which the vehicle will be deployed and the specific concerns(e.g., speed, flexibility, or predictability) of the implementer, any ofwhich may vary. Those skilled in the art will recognize that opticalaspects of implementations will typically employ optically-orientedhardware, software, and or firmware.

The foregoing detailed description has set forth various embodiments ofthe devices and/or processes via the use of block diagrams, flowcharts,and/or examples. Insofar as such block diagrams, flowcharts, and/orexamples contain one or more functions and/or operations, it will beunderstood by those within the art that each function and/or operationwithin such block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples can be implemented,individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software,firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. In one embodiment,several portions of the subject matter described herein may beimplemented via Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), FieldProgrammable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs), orother integrated formats. However, those skilled in the art willrecognize that some aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein, inwhole or in part, can be equivalently implemented in integratedcircuits, as one or more computer programs running on one or morecomputers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computersystems), as one or more programs running on one or more processors(e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more microprocessors),as firmware, or as virtually any combination thereof, and that designingthe circuitry and/or writing the code for the software and or firmwarewould be well within the skill of one of skill in the art in light ofthis disclosure. In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciatethat the mechanisms of the subject matter described herein are capableof being distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, andthat an illustrative embodiment of the subject matter described hereinapplies regardless of the particular type of signal bearing medium usedto actually carry out the distribution. Examples of a signal bearingmedium include, but are not limited to, the following: a computerreadable memory medium such as a magnetic medium like a hard disk drive,and solid state drive magnetic tape; an optical medium like a CompactDisc (CD), a Digital Video Disk (DVD), and a Blu-ray Disc; computermemory like random access memory (RAM), flash memory, and read onlymemory (ROM); and a transmission type medium such as a digital and/or ananalog communication medium like a fiber optic cable, a waveguide, awired communications link, and a wireless communication link.

The herein described subject matter sometimes illustrates different,components contained within, or connected with, different othercomponents. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures aremerely exemplary, and that in fact many other architectures can beimplemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense,any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality iseffectively “associated” such that the desired functionality isachieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve aparticular functionality can be seen as “associated with” each othersuch that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective ofarchitectures or intermediate components. Likewise, any two componentsso associated can also be viewed as being “operably connected”, or“operably coupled”, to each other to achieve the desired functionality,and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewedas being “operably couplable”, to each other to achieve the desiredfunctionality. Specific examples of operably couplable include but arenot limited to physically mateable and/or physically interactingcomponents and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wirelessly interactingcomponents and/or logically interacting and/or logically interactablecomponents.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that it is common within the artto implement devices and/or processes and/or systems in the fashion(s)set forth herein, and thereafter use engineering and/or businesspractices to integrate such implemented devices and/or processes and/orsystems into more comprehensive devices and/or processes and/or systems.That is, at least a portion of the devices and/or processes and/orsystems described herein can be integrated into comprehensive devicesand/or processes and/or systems via a reasonable amount ofexperimentation. Those having skill in the art will recognize thatexamples of such comprehensive devices and/or processes and/or systemsmight include-as appropriate to context and application—all or part ofdevices and/or processes and/or systems of (a) an air conveyance (e.g.,an airplane, rocket, hovercraft, helicopter, etc.), (b) a groundconveyance (e.g., a car, truck, locomotive, tank, armored personnelcarrier, etc.), (c) a building (e.g., a home, warehouse, office, etc.),(d) an appliance (e.g., a refrigerator, a washing machine, a dryer,etc.), (e) a communications system (e.g., a networked system, atelephone system, a Voice over IP system, etc.), (f) a business entity(e.g., an Internet Service Provider (ISP) entity such as Comcast Cable,Quest, Southwestern Bell, etc.); or (g) a wired/wireless services entitysuch as Sprint, Cingular, Nextel, etc.), etc.

While particular aspects of the present subject matter described hereinhave been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art that, based upon the teachings herein, changes and modificationsmay be made without departing from the subject matter described hereinand its broader aspects and, therefore, the appended claims are toencompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as arewithin the true spirit and scope of the subject matter described herein.Furthermore, it is to be understood that the invention is defined by theappended claims. Accordingly, the invention is not to be restrictedexcept in light of the appended claims and their equivalents.

1. A method for purchasing a product at a brick-and-mortar retailestablishment comprising: inputting identification information into alocal device for a product sold by the brick-and-mortar retailestablishment; transmitting the identification information to an ordercreation application; and upon receiving the identification information,selecting a dispense type for the product, wherein the dispense type isselected from a group of dispense types including: “carry” forpersonally carrying the product out of the brick-and-mortar retailestablishment, “load” for having the product loaded into the user'svehicle, “pickup” for having the product provided to the user at apredetermined location whereby the user will go to get that product, and“delivery” for delivering the product to the user at a predeterminedlocation.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the order creationapplication automatically places the product in a virtual shopping cartfor purchase by the user.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the dispensetype is a default dispense type automatically selected by the ordercreation application.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the defaultdispense type is automatically selected based upon the type of productsold.
 5. The method of claim 3, wherein the wherein the default dispensetype is automatically selected as “carry” based on the method ofinputting the identification information.
 6. The method of claim 5,wherein the identification information is input by scanning theidentification information, and wherein the default dispense type isautomatically selected as “carry.”
 7. The method of claim 5, wherein theidentification information is selected from an online catalogue, andwherein the default dispense type is automatically selected as“delivery.”
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmittingthe dispense type to an order fulfillment center for processing an orderfor the product.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein a fulfillment methodis selected for the product.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein thefulfillment method is automatically selected for the product based onthe dispense method selected. 11.-17. (canceled)
 18. A system forpurchasing one or more local inaccessible products comprising: a localdevice for retrieving identification information for a product; a remoteserver connected with the local device, wherein the remote serverreceives the identification information, wherein the remote device is incommunication with a product database which contains product informationfor the product, wherein the remote server uses the identificationinformation to retrieve the product information, wherein productinformation related to the product is communicated to an order creationapplication which places the product in a virtual shopping cart alongwith some of the product information, and wherein a dispense type isselected for the product from a group of dispense types including:“carry” for personally carrying the product out of the brick-and-mortarretail establishment, “load” for having the product loaded into theuser's vehicle, “pickup” for having the product provided to the user ata predetermined location whereby the user will go to get that product,and “delivery” for delivering the product to the user at a predeterminedlocation; an order management system connected with the remote server,wherein the order management system processes an order for the localinaccessible product; and an order fulfillment system connected with theorder management system to fulfill the order in accordance with theselected dispense type.
 19. The system of claim 18, wherein the whereinthe default dispense type is automatically selected based on a method ofinputting the identification information.
 20. The system of claim 18,wherein the dispense type is a default dispense type automaticallyselected by the order creation application.
 21. The system of claim 18,wherein the default dispense type is automatically selected based uponthe type of product sold. 22.-36. (canceled)
 37. A system for purchasinga product comprising: a local device for retrieving identificationinformation for two or more different products sold by a retailestablishment, wherein each product is a different product type selectedfrom a group of product types including: a local accessible product, alocal inaccessible product, an online product, and a remote product; aremote server connected with the local device, wherein upon receivingthe identification information at the local device, the local deviceautomatically forwards the identification information to an ordercreation application, wherein the order creation application adds theproducts to a virtual shopping cart, wherein at least one orderfulfillment method and at least one payment method for the products inthe virtual shopping cart is selected, and wherein payment for allproducts in the virtual shopping cart is authorized all at one time; anorder management system connected with the remote server, wherein theorder management system processes an order for the product; and an orderfulfillment system connected with the order management system to fulfillthe order.
 38. The system of claim 37, wherein the order creationapplication automatically places the products in a virtual shopping cartfor a single payment by the user.
 39. The method of claim 38, wherein adispense type is automatically selected by the order creationapplication upon placing the products in the virtual shopping cart forpurchase.
 40. The method of claim 39, wherein the fulfillment method isautomatically selected for the products based on the dispense methodselected.
 41. The method of claim 37, wherein the products in thevirtual shopping cart include a local accessible product, a localinaccessible product, and an online product. 42.-61. (canceled)